1st Sunday of Advent 2014 (November 30)

St. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was a fisherman. He was a disciple of St. John the Baptist, but when John pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" Andrew understood that Jesus was greater than John. At once he left John the Baptist to follow Jesus. Jesus knew that Andrew was walking behind him, and turning back, he asked, "What do you seek?" When Andrew answered that he would like to know where Jesus lived, Jesus replied, "Come and see." From then on, Andrew chose to follow Jesus. After sometime, he brought his brother Simon (St. Peter) to Jesus and Jesus received him, too, as His disciple. It is believed that after Jesus ascended into Heaven, Andrew went to Greece to preach the gospel. He is said to have been put to death on a cross, to which he was tied, not nailed. He lived two days in that state of suffering, still preaching to the people who gathered around their beloved Apostle. My dear friends of Christ, the life of St. Andrew would tell us what it means “to watch”. For Andrew, to watch is not just about seeing something or looking at someone. When John the Baptist pointed to Jesus, Andrew “watched” Jesus i.e., he made a close continuous observation for the purpose of discovering who Jesus is. When he told Jesus that he wanted to know where the Lord lived, Jesus replied, “Come and see.” The reply of Jesus simply conveys to Andrew that he has to keep watching on Jesus for some special purpose. Later, Andrew discovered and realized that Jesus is the Son of God. He also realized that his special purpose in knowing the identity of Jesus is to preach the good news of his discovery about Jesus. Today, our Gospel Mark 13:33-37 reminds us of the necessity of watching on this first Sunday of Advent. Jesus said, “And what I say to you I say to all: Watch.” We have to watch for Jesus to come into our lives especially during this season –to heal us, to protect us, to forgive us, to love us, etc. It is only by our close observation on how Jesus would touch our lives that we begin to preach about Him –about how we are miraculously healed, how we are protected from dangers, how God loves us, etc. If we fail to watch Jesus closely, if we lack knowledge about Jesus in our lives, we can still preach about Him yet we can never be an authentic witness of who Jesus really is. My dear friends of Christ, let us then begin to watch Jesus closely starting today. Amen.